In 'Doctor Strange', Is Mads Mikkelsen Playing Dormammu?

It'd be very fitting if the former Hannibal Lecter is the Lord of Chaos of the Marvel Universe.

This November after the Marvel heroes wage civil war, Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch (and his jarring American accent) will debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as the Sorcerer Supreme, Doctor Strange, in the titular Doctor Strange directed by Scott Derrickson. Along for the ride is Oscar-winner Tilda Swinton playing the Ancient One, Chiwetel Ejiofor as Baron Mordo, Rachel McAdams as a yet-unnamed surgeon, and Mads Mikkelsen as … Dormammu? I think?

The star of NBC’s cult-hit Hannibal, Mads Mikkelsen plays the primary antagonist of Doctor Strange (and not Ejiofor’s Baron Mordo, who is also a villain in the Marvel comics). But Marvel hasn’t revealed who his character is, which has lit the speculation fires for fans. I personally think Mikkelsen is the Lord of Chaos himself, Dormammu (DOR-MA-MOO), an enemy mystic who has regularly fought Strange and other Marvel heroes.

Created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko in Strange Tales #126 in 1964, Dormammu is a straight up immortal demon who masters the dark arts. But more notably, Dormammu is capable of inter-dimensional teleportation, and the Doctor Strange trailer makes clear the movie will have quite some trippy, Inception-looking dimension hopping.

Doctor Strange, in general, is meant to open the doors, quite literally, to the paranormal and other-worldly for the MCU (Asgard in Thor is technically just an alien planet with super advanced science), much like The Flash opened up parallel dimensions to the DC television “Arrowverse.”